Currently, the company is being investigated
for failing to fix a critical cockpit warning light in its Max 737 airliners.After two airplane crashes last year which
killed 346 people, Boeing has quite a fair bit of spotlight shining on their
dealings.

According to a letter to Boeing, the
Federal Aviation Administration and a Boeing subcontractor, Peter DeFazio and
Rick Larsen noted that they had received information that even though Boeing
knew the safety alert wasn’t working properly, it began delivering 737 Max
airliners in 2017.

Despite the malfunction, they were being
rolled out, with plans to implement a fix in 2020, three years
post-malfunction.

Unfortunately, the faulty sensor was connected with both the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March and the Lion Air crash in Indonesia in October. The warning light alerts crews when an angle of attack sensor is giving false readings.

The ongoing investigation into Boeing’s
choices means Boeing will need to disclose when exactly they were informed the
light was defective and when the airlines were subsequently notified.

As Larsen, House subcommittee on aviation
chair, said in a statement:
“I have questions about the decision to not deem the AOA Disagree alert as
safety critical and I am concerned it took Boeing so long to report this
defective feature to the FAA and its customers.”

In April, Boeing announced that the alert
was not operating correctly on all Max 737 aircraft. That was followed up by an
assurance
that the alert’s absence would not adversely impact the airplane safety or
operation.

Boeing has said: “Based on the safety
review, the update was scheduled for the MAX 10 rollout in 2020. We fell short
in the implementation of the AoA Disagree alert and are taking steps to address
these issues so they do not occur again.”